August 21 - Two 50-ton Hoist forklifts will handle steel slabs for the Alabama State Port Authority at its new Pinto Terminal facility in Mobile, Alabama, which is currently under construction.

The Pinto Terminal is a free-standing marine facility with barge handling capability located behind the ship berth, equipped with three wide-span gantry cranes with state-of-the-art magnetic lifting gear configured to unload product from ships to either barges or direct to storage. An integrated barge haul system will position barges under the cranes.

Glenn Reibe, manager of Pinto Terminal, believes "the Hoist equipment will compliment Pinto's innovative design. The P-Series hydraulic system utilises a single load sense hydraulic pump for steering and braking reducing fuel consumption and increasing efficiency. This combined with easy access 
serviceability and domestic sourcing of components with most manufactured by Hoist Liftruck means minimal downtime."

On schedule to be completed December 2009, the 45-foot draft terminal will be capable of discharging 25,000 tonnes of semi-finished slabs from vessels and loading 10 barges per day, whether a vessel is at the berth or not. Storage capacity will accommodate 150,000 tonnes of slabs.

The pneumatic P-Series features a standard Cummins Tier III diesel engine, Dana automatic transmission, AxleTech planetary drive axle, outboard wet disc brakes, wide-view two-stage mast, electronic fingertip controls, true inching control, easy-access service points and RemoteTech vehicle management system.